E is for Parking

The letter E. Have you ever been in a Spanish speaking country in Latin America and seen a sign with a big letter E on it? This is the sign version of one of my favorite Spanish words and provides a cool note on culture.

Two of my absolute favorite Spanish words are estacionamiento and the verb of this word which is estacionar. One thing is that in Spain they use a different word and verb. I believe they also use a different word in Colombia.

Estacionamiento means parking and estacionar means to park

In many Spanish speaking countries, you will likely see a sign with a big E on it indicating where you can find parking.

I love these two words because parking is such a basic utilitarian thing, and these two words are quite long for something that really has no symbolic deep meaning.

The other part of this is how much we take for granted the signs that we rely on in cities. You get used to the signs you know in your city. One part of language learning and travel is that other countries and cultures often use their own system of signs with their own language, a variety of designs and a variety of colors.

My brain is not hardwired to look for a giant letter E to find a parking garage.

Often these small things that many of us rely on can be the biggest difficulties in a new language or new place.

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